Africa must grow its own food, not to rely on Eastern Europe output

AFRICA found herself embroiled in the Russia-Ukraine conflict when some leaders took it upon themselves to try and influence the protagonists to come to their senses and end the suffering of innocent civilians caught up in the war. To the uninformed, it was surprising that after failing to stop the war in Sudan, Northern Mozambique, DRC, Somalia and the Sahel region; the hunger, poverty and unemployment that leads thousands of youths drowning in the Mediterranean Sea enroute to Europe in search of a better life, some African leaders believed they could stop the conflict in Europe.

The African intervention was purely informed by the fact that some Africans are staring starvation in the face as the two European neighbours feed most African citizens for inexplicable reasons.

Africa can avoid chronic food insecurity if she wishes. Climate change effects on sub-Saharan Africa’s survival is astronomical. Coupled with the war in Ukraine there has been food shortages leading to high prices of grains worldwide, with Africa particularly affected.

Floods destroy crops and infrastructure such as roads and bridges thus disrupting the distribution of much-needed food. Whereas there could be torrential rains in arid areas of Chad, Mali and Burkina Faso, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti will be suffering from drought. Either way, climate change impacts Africa negatively with poverty and job losses in both agriculture industries and economies at large.

For a long time sub-Saharan Africa has had to rely on food imports and huge populations have had to survive on government and non-governmental organisations’ food handouts. It is estimated that 80 percent of food consumed is from outside the continent. Food imports are supposed to augment domestic production. Import costs such as transport and storage are passed on to the consumers hence the high prices. Where such food is paid for, the region’s foreign currency reserves are negatively impacted and this ultimately affects supply of essential drugs and technological development in schools and colleges.

In order to meet huge food bills, governments are forced to suspend funding for other essentials due to budget constraints. Source markets for food that offer relatively low prices are therefore treasured and any disturbances in the supply chain can be catastrophic.

It is in this light that the African initiative to end the special Russian assignment in Ukraine must be seen as more of a food security issue than political.

South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa led an entourage along with presidents of Egypt, Senegal, Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Zambia and Uganda to engage Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. Both countries supply huge amounts of grains to Africa particularly wheat. The conflict has led to limited supplies and resulted in inflated food prices, heavy impact on national budgets, price controls on food hence reducing local farmers’ earnings with resultant job losses throughout the agricultural value chain including machinery and chemicals production, transport and retail.

Colleges that train farmers and provide research facilities have cut costs amid financial constraints.

Sub-Saharan Africa must not be in such a state given the huge fertile areas of land we have. Blessed with the world’s youngest population, we must be food exporters not importers.

President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, suggests that Africa must focus on food that it can produce for itself and trade within.

He believes conflicts and climate change impact Africa’s food production. With the young people being her major resource, Africa can harness this resource and empower the youths in their agricultural projects. Indeed the focus must be on funding mechanisation, fertilisers, chemicals and irrigation. Rain-fed agriculture will not take Africa out of poverty and hunger. With climate change, what Africa needs is to safeguard itself from the impact of floods and drought.

Floods sweep away crops and drench the fields washing away chemicals, roads and bridges. Drought kills off crops and animals hence the need for controlled irrigation and year-round farming.

In 2022, more than half of the wheat procured by the United Nations World Food Programme was from Ukraine. Over 380 000 tonnes went to Ethiopia, Yemen, Djibouti,Somalia and Afghanistan. Eritrea and Somalia completely depended on Russia and Ukraine by importing all their grains from the two.

The problem is that although Africa produces food, most of it is not for Africa’s consumption but for export. Crops such as coffee, cocoa, tobacco and cottonseed oil are exported, while the staple maize, rice and wheat are mainly imported from Europe and Asia. Russia has risen to be the largest exporter of wheat to the continent, supplying about 32 percent of Africa’s wheat worth US$3,5 billion in 2020 alone.

South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria which are Africa’s notable economies import wheat and sunflower oil from Russia and Ukraine yet these countries are expected to reduce reliance on such imports by developing home-grown strategies to increase local production.

Africa’s vulnerability has been exposed.

With Africa being priced out of the grain market by Europeans, the US Agency for International Development is providing up to US$20 million through the UN World Food Programme. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs minister James Cleverly announced extra funds for food to countries on the verge of starvation. It is business not charity. South Africa and Nigeria, the largest food producers, must lead in disengaging Africa from handouts as it means countries outside the continent are making money at our expense. There is no free meal and as Africans we must be embarrassed to carry a begging bowl.

The irony is Ukraine annually marks the Holodomor, when millions of people starved to death in a famine in 1932 to 1933. They have since moved on yet Africa finds itself in a desperate need of food every year.